2018 Conference

27 August 2013

One of the author's many closets of stored "memorabilia" -- paper, textiles and anything deemed "worthy" of being saved!

Records. We are always seeking and acquiring records
produced by or created with regards to our ancestors.

Let’s turn this around and discuss what records should we “keep”
for our descendants? And, let’s broaden
the questions – what “stuff” should we hold onto for further generations.

This thought crossed my mind after reading Please keep this receipt for your records,
a blog post on The National Archives (UK) blog.
Though this post focused more on keeping records regarding their
relevance to one’s business, I think the same questions need to be asked with
regards to one’s personal life.

For each of my children and my husband and I, we have “memory
boxes.” These are boxes where through time we can put any memorabilia, whether
documents, images, favorite toys, special items of clothing, ticket stubs, and
more to be “kept” for the future. Just
about every closet in our house has these types of boxes. As one box gets full, I write “whose” box it
is and the approximate date range of the contents included. I figure that in the future, my children,
grandchildren or other descendants might “chuck” it all out and at least that
will be their decision!

I know that part of my efforts stem from leaving my house for
my first job with just a shoe box of memorabilia (how can 20+ years of ones
life boil down to a single shoebox?) and then years later all of the family
photo albums and other trinkets “disappeared.”
If I wasn’t a pack rat before, I am certainly one now!

And, I clearly cannot keep everything! As mentioned in the article, keeping receipts
(unless you scan or photograph them) often has no purpose since within a short
period of time they will have faded.
Since I use a financial software I now only keep “receipts” and
documentation that has value when preparing my tax returns.

As mentioned, anything that I or my children deem as
relevant to the “memory box” also gets saved.
I also have an attic full of long ago used toys and other items – they sit
there gathering dust and have not been used in many years. Should I hold onto
them? Should I donate them to a
charity? Are some just destined for the
trash?

Additionally, I have a safe where I keep a few inherited
keepsakes from the 1800s – which have deemed to have little monetary value and
yet have great sentimental value – along with some photos and a few original
documents from family members now deceased.

As genealogists and
family historians, how do we decide what to keep for future generations? When can we (and maybe should we) just cull
through what we have collected and actually (gasp!) throw some things out? I struggle with this. Do you?

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